Geared thread holder for weft replenishing looms



June11,,1946. E. "A. SANTON 2,401,963

' GEARED THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING- LOOMS v Fild April 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INvENfoR 11M OI %wMmm 5%. WM

ATTORNEY June 11, 1946. E. SANTON 2,401,968 GEARED THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed April 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 69M OMJQWCOW ATTOR NEY Patented June 11, 1946 GEARED THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Elliot A. Santon, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, H Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 1, 1944, Serial No. 529,147

Claims. (01. 139-247) This invention relates to improvements in thread holders for weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to improve the type of a thread holder having thread engaging gears.

A type of weftreplenishing loom which has gone into extensive use employs several stacks of reserve bobbins arranged in a magazine. Weft ends extend from the bobbins to a holder the purpose of which is to keep the threads taut and also hold the thread of atransferred bobbin to facilitate partial threading of the shuttle on the first pick after transfer. A well-known type of thread holder employs a pair of geared members between which the weft ends pass, provision being made to cause the geared members to turn during loom operation, preferably by a vibration motor. When coarse yarns are used the weft ends form such a large bundle that the vibration motor cannot turn the geared members, and it is an important object of my present invention to provide an electric motor connected to one of the geared members and causing the latter to turn slowly during loom operation. The motor is preferably of th self-starting low speed synchronous type, although I do not wish to be limited to this particular kind of motor in the practice of my invention.

The aforesaid geared members are mounted on a support so that their axes are substantially parallel to the lay and the weft ends are led over the support and then passed downwardly to be subjected to tension by said members, The turning of the gears tends to group all the weft ends in a small area the effect of which is to impose a considerable load on the gear driving mechanism. It is another object of my present invention to provide thread separator means so constructed that the weft ends can be divided into groups which engage the gears at points spaced along the length of the gears. In this way the threads are distributed between the gears and do not form a sufficiently large bundle at any one point to interfere with the operation of a gear turning mechanism. The separator means is preferably arranged above the gears and is so constructed that one group of weft ends from the rear part of the magazine is directed downwardly toward the gears along a path spaced from the path traversed by the group of weft ends from the front part of the magazine.

In the weaving of certain fabrics it is customary to use two different types of yarns, such as rayon and coarse cotton. In the reclamation of the waste threads it has been found difficult to separate these two types of yarns because ofthe form of thread holders heretofore used. It is a further object of my present invention to provide thread guide means below the gears defining different paths, one for each type of yarn. Thus, the guide may be so constructed that rayon yarns coming from the front of the magazine are led over a guide which directs them forwardly, While the heavy cotton yarns are led over a econd guide which directs them rearwardly. The two types of weft are therefore kept separate and the labor of reclaiming the waste yarns is simplified.

While I show hereinafter guides both above and below the thread tensioning gears, yet it is to be understood that these guides need not necessarily be used together. If all the yarns are of the same kind and are large, the separator above the gears will sufiice, but if two distinctive wefts are used the guide below the gears can be used either with or without the guide above the gears.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a weft replenishing loom having my invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1,

Fig 3 is an enlarged side elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 1, showing both the top and bottom separators or guides for the weft ends,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4-4, Fig. 3, showing the driving motor for one of the gears,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation showing the interior of the casing on which the thread gears are mounted as seen from the center of the loom, with the dust protector plate removed, and looking in the direction of arrow 5, Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail plan, partly in section, of the connection between the driving motor and one of the thread gears,'

Fig. '7 is a front elevation of the thread holder looking in the direction of arrow 1, Fig. 3,

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the thread holder looking in the direction of arrow 8, Fig. 3, and

Fig. 9 i a diagrammatic view showing the electric control circuit for the motor.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown a loom frame I0. .a lay II, and picking mechanism [2 to actuate a shuttle S. Looms of the type to which my invention is more parat H mounted on an arm 13 secured at [4 to some part of the magazine, such as a tie rod I5 The thread holder i provided with front. and

back thread engaging gears and 2|, respectively, mounted on a casing 22 having a side wall 2'3, end walls 24 and 25 and't'op'andb0tt0m*Wa1ls; Thread gear 2| is secured to shaft2'l'which' turns in a bearing 28 on the upper end of" an 3 arm 29 pivoted on a stud 30 secured tovthe casing. A light coil spring 3l lies between'arm 29' and a flat spring 32 the upper end of which is secured as-at 33'to one wall 25. An adjusting screw 34 threaded into wall 25 adjacent to the flat;spring engagesthe'lower end of the latter to-adjust the sametoward-and from arm 2'9 for the purpose of varying the force exerted by spring 3i.- Spring: 31' is weaker than the flat spring and will be compressed-when the latter is moved to thedotted line position shown in Fig. 5 to increase resistance to pivotal movement of the=gear 21 in a rearward direction, or to the right asViewed inFig. 3;

The frontgeared'memberlil is secured to. a shaft) which turns in a-b'earing 4| fixed with respect to: the thread holdercasing. A small electric motor E is mounted on tubular supports 42 and held in position by screws 43 passing throughthesupports and tapped into the vertical side wall'23. A coupling 44, see Fig. 6, connects' shaft M with the-: shaft 45 of'the motor. The motor .is-located within casing Hand is protected by the usual cover 46.

The'motor i 'supplied with electric power by two insulated wires 4T and 48 which, as shown in Fig. 5, leadfromthemotor out of the bottom 'wall 26 and thenalongthe-latter to be attached for-supporting purposes as atAQ-tothe arm I3. The wires 41 and 48- then-extend along arm l3 to a. transformer box 50 which supplies electric energy for turning the motor.

As shown in Fig. Q- th'e-circuit containing the motor E is under control of some part of the loom which-determines whether theloom shall run or bestopped. There are-two general ways of stopping -the 'loom, one through-the shipper mechanism, and the other by stopping the driving: motor, but I do not deem it necessary to show controls exercised by-both of these stopping methods. I have shown, however, means by which stopping of theloom through the shipper handle will effect stoppage of the motor E.

Referring-to Fig. 9 the shipper handle 52" when in the forward running position, that is to the left, Figs. 2' and 9, efl'ects'closure of aswitch 53, but whenthe shipper handlemoves rearwardly,

or to the dotted line positionshown in Fig. 9, the

switch 53 isopen. Thecircuit shown in Fig. 9 indicates how the shipper mechanism controls the.. motor E.. When the shipper handle is in running-position. current will. flow in the followinglcircuit: secondaryz55 of the transformer T, wire 56 to switch 53', wire 51', wire 41-, themotor E, and the wire 48 back .to the other. side of' the secondary winding.- 55. So.:.long as the shipper handle is in running position this circuit. is

losedend dihe.;motor.:.Eu con.tinues to run; at;-.a very slow rate, such as four to eight revolutions per minute. When the shipper handle is moved to stopping position, however, the switch 53 is opened, and the circuit is broken, stopping the motor. By this control the thread holder motor E runs only during loom operation.

If the "yarnsof both roupspfthreads G and G2 were-large they would-impose too-heavy a load on the gears 20 and 2! if the thread holder were made substantially as constructed heretofore. Inorder todistribute the load I provide a separator Bilwhich as shown in Fig. 7 has a vertical wall Bl secured by screws 62 to the thread holder casing. This wall extends upwardly and then extendsh'orizontally as at 63 over the top wall 26 of the'casing. The left part of the separator'projects over gear 20 as at 64 to a point substantially midway of the length thereof as shown in Fig. 7. A side edge 65 on part 64 leads to the right, Fig. 8, to an upstanding horn-.fifir-whichmaybejintthe form-of a hook to limitrearward movement of weft threads. rear'part ofithezguide. fifl' is-cut away as, at 61 to expose the: rear: thread gear 2|. Thethread holder casing 22 has the usual guide 68"which overhangs a part of both of. the gears 25 and'ZI. This. guide 68; has a: thread; engaging edge 69 which isunearer the. magazine than is thread guiding: edge 65.

In; using the separator 60, the. group of yarns G2: from the back of .the magazine will-.be' led overthe separatorrfifl:and1p'ermitted to'fall over the edge 59:and onto gear.:2l. thenspun' manuallya'and group G2 is drawn dow-nwardly-betweenthe gears 20 and 12| to a position designated at A close to guide 68. The second group v fthreads G from the front of the'zmagazine :is then 'led'over edge 65: and allowed tozfallon gearZfl; This groupiG' willeventually occupy the position designated at B between the gears and spaced .outwardly'from guide. The bundles: of threads; at positions A. and B. are spaced from: each other so that: the'load on the motor'E; will be much; less th'an would be the case ifiall the: threadsshould occupythe positiozrwhich they would takeun'der'formerconstruction; that is; at-A.

If groups G and G2 are formed 'of"diiierent types-of yarn, such as rayon andccarsecotton it is desirable that-they be separated below the gears to 1 implify reclamation. Accordingly, I provide means. below the gears definingtwo difierent pathsleading-awayfrom said gears; one of said pathsextending forwardly: for'one type of yarn and the other path leading rearwardly for the other type ofyarn; In Figs. 3 and 7 I'have shown a thread guid'e orseparator 70 made-with oppo- 'sit'e1y extending ears H andlZ held to wall 23 by'screWs 13: The-intermediate part of guide 15 isflmade with upwardly ccnvergingiloors 5 and .lfiiformed with side flanges Hand '18,- respectively.

Theafloorsand flange form' front and backguide troughs 80. and. 81', respectively, which extend, as indicated inv Fig..-7,1tOp0SitiOnS under the thread guidesfi8ito1holdtthe threads in' proper position.

When usingthe' guide or separator "l9; the front grouprofi th'reads G"'wi1li be led downwardly between the gear 20*and.'2l; and then moved forwardly intoxthe front: trough 8i and then the rear group..G2:.after" being passedbetween the gears. will be directed along the :rear trough 3|. The two groups are therefore'kept separatezand can be gathered independently of each other'for reclamatiompurposes. It is. obvious that under certainzconditionsit :will i be suffiment .if 3 only one of the guide troughs is used, since one of them will The The. gears' are deflect its group away from the center of the thread holder and the other group can hang as usual below the line of mesh of the gears 29 and 2!. It i apparent also that I am not limited to the particular form of guide l-il, since it is sufficient if a thread guide is used which is spaced from a vertical line passing through the line of mesh of the gears and over which one of the groups may be trained.

The upper guide 60 and lower guide it can be used together when two types of weft are being woven, but it may not always be necessary to use the top guide 60 with two types of weft, since the fine yarn add very little to the total size of the bundle of weft ends and all of the latter can hang down over the edge 69 as heretofore and be separated by the guide 18. In similar manner, top guide 60 can be used without the bottom guide when all the yarns are of the same type.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means for driving the thread gears 20 and 2| continuously during loom operation by means of a small electric motor which can be housed in the usual type of casing heretofore provided for geared thread holders. It will also be seen that the motor for the gears controlled so that it Will run only when needed. Further, it will be noted that I have provided a thread separator 60 overhanging the thread gears and effective to separate the yarns into two groups which engage the gears at different points along their lengths. The top separator 68 can of course be used with both light and coarse yarns if desired. Furthermore, it will be seen that I have provided a thread guide 10 below the gears 26 and 2| to separate the bundle of weft ends when two types of Weft are used in the loom, the purpose of the separation being to simplify reclaiming of the waste threads.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In thread holder mechanism for the weft ends of reserve bobbins in a weft replenishing loom, control means movable from one position to another position to effect loom stoppage, geared members rotatable to tension said weft ends, an electric motor operatively connected to one of said members, a switch under control of said control means and closed when the latter is in said one position and open when said control means is in the other position thereof, a source of electric power, and electric gircuit means including said motor, source of power and switch and closed when said switch is closed to cause operation of the motor to effect rotation of said geared members, said motor stopping when said switch is opened to break said circuit by said control means.

2. In thread holder mechanism for the weft ends of reserve bobbins in a weft replenishing loom, control means movable from one position to another position to effect loom stoppage, geared members rotatable to tension said weft ends, a support for said geared members, an electric motor mounted on said support and operatively connected to one of said members, a switch under control of said control means and closed when the latter is in said one position and open when said control means is in the other position thereof, a source of electric power, and electric circuit means including said motor, source of power and switch and closed when said switch is closed to cause operation of the motor to effect rotation of said geared members, said motor stopping when said switch is opened to break said circuit by said control means.

3. In thread holder mechanism for the weft ends of reserve bobbins in a weft replenishing loom, control means movable from one position to another position to effect loom stoppage, geared members rotatabl to tension said weft ends, a hollow support for said geared members, an electric motor located within said support and operatively connected to one of said members, a switch under control of said control means and closed when the latter is in said one position and open when said control means is in the other position thereof, a source of electric power, and electric circuit means including said motor, source of power and switch and closed when said switch is closed to cause operation of the motor to effect rotation of said geared members, said motor stopping when said switch is opened to break said circuit by said control means.

4. In thread holder mechanism for the weft ends of reserve bobbins in a, weft replenishing loom, control means movable from one position to another position to effect loom stoppage, geared members rotatable to tension said weft ends, a support for said geared members, an electric motor mounted on said support, coupling connections between said motor and one of said geared members, a switch under control of said control means and closed when the latter is in said one position and open when said control means is in the other position thereof, a source of electric power, and electric circuit means including said motor, source of power and switch and closed when said switch is closed to cause operation of the motor to effect rotation of said geared members, said motor stopping when said switch is opened to break said circuit by said control means.

5. In thread holder mechanism for the weft ends of reserve bobbins in a weft replenishing loom, a shipper handle movable from one position to another position to effect loom stoppage, geared members rotatable to tension said weft ends, an electric motor operatively connected to one of said members, a switch under control of said shipper handle and closed when the latter is in said one position and open when said shipper handle is in the other position thereof, a source of electric power, and electric circuit means including said motor, source of power and switch and closed when said switch is closed to cause operation of the motor to effect rotation of said geared members, said motor stopping when said switch is opened to break said circuit by said shipper handle when the latter moves to effect loom stoppage.

ELLIQT A. SANTON. 

